Rowing apparatus



(No Model.)

' W; L. DE GRAPE.

ROWING APPARATUS.

No. 367,338. Patented July 26, 1887.

12206236073".- Writ/L 2W7Qf/ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM L. DE GRAFF, OF HOMER, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM B.LOVELAND, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

ROWING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 367,338, dated July 26,1887.

Application filed Novembcr lll, 1886. Serial No. M9395. (No model.)

' Improvement in Rowing Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention is an improvement in rowing apparatus of that class inwhich the oar-blade is fixed pivotally to the edge of the boat and isactuated by an independent hand-lever controlled by the oarsman, theconnection between the two parts being such as will cause the oar tomove forward or backward in unison with a similar motion of thehand-lever. The primary object of such devices is to enable the oarsmanto sit facing the direction of movement of the boat, while the workperformed by him will be similar in all its motions to that requiredwhen an ordinary oar is employed and the oarsman sits facing the stern.

In carrying out my invention in a practical way to meet the requirementsof such an .ob-

'ject, I aim to provide a combination of elements arranged in compactand simple form,

'which shall have the effect of multiplying the movement of thehand-lever tothe oar-blade, so that a long stroke may be made withcomparatively slightmovement of they said lever.

My invention consists of a tilting frame supported upon the edge of theboat and carrying the pivoted .oar and the operating handlevertherefor,with peculiar and novel connections between the car and said1ever,whereby the desired increased movement of the blade is effected.

Further, my invention consists of an oar formed in two parts connectedso that a partial rotary movement is permitted to the oarblade for thepurpose of feathering the same on return-stroke, and in novel devices,employed in combination'with this form of oar, by which the tilting ofthe supportingframe automatically controls the position of the oar-bladefor the working and feathering stroke.

The invention further consists in the various details of arrangement andconstruction by which the principle involved may be embodied in apractically-working apparatus.

All the details will be fully described hereinafter, and pointed outparticularly in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of 5 the device, the partsbeing in position to begin the backward stroke. Fig. 2 is a perspectiveview with the operating parts in their for- Ward position.

In the drawings the oar-blade is repre- 66 sented at A and the operatinghand-lever at- B, both of these parts being pivotally sccured at points1 and 2, respectively, to the frame C. This frame is composed of theupper and lower bars, a b, the latter of which is adapted tobe'pivotally secured to the edge of the boat in a manner hereinafterreferred to, whereby the whole frame, with the parts secured thereto,may be tilted, so that the oarblade can be raised free from the waterfor ']O the return-stroke. The oar-blade is formed of wood in theordinary manner. The stock 3 is divided, as at 4, the portion carryingthe blade being swiveled to a pivoted portion, 5,

all of which will be hereinafter particularly referred to. Ashort arm,4., of the pivoted por' tion 5 of the oar-stock,extends approximately atright angles to the main body of the oar, and to this arm connectionfrom the operating hand-lever is made. As heretofore intimated, it isdesirable to multiply the movement of this arm, and consequently that ofthe blade, relatively to the amount of stroke made by the hand-lever,and for this purpose a peculiar form of connection is employed. 8 Asshown in Fig. 1, an arm, 6, extends from the hand-lever at a pointwithin its pivot toward the pivot of the blade, being braced by asuitable rod or bar, 6. A link, D, is pivoted in the extreme end of thisarm at 8, and 0 is connected at its opposite end to the arm 4" of theblade, as shown at 7. It will be observed that the point Sis at as greata distance from the pivot'of the handle as the structure of the devicewill permit, and the path traversed by it will be within the path of thepoint 7 Supposing the dotted lines to represent the paths traveled bythe two pivots 7 and 8, and

the parts to be in position shown in Fig. 1, now let the pivot 8 bemoved along its path to the point 9 and the length of the link D bemeasured off to intersect the path of the pivot 7. It will be seen thatwhile the pivot Sis moving to the point 9 the pivot 7 will have passedto the position, as at 10, which, it is clear, is greatly in excess ofthe imparting motion of the hand-lever. Thus to give the oar-blade amovement of one-fourth on its pivot it necessitates a movement of thehandle equal approximately to only one-eighth of a circle. The bottombar of the supportingframe is provided with ears, between whichsupportirig-standards from the side of the boat are adapted to fit, apin passing through the parts to make a pivotal connection. By thisconstruction the oarsman is enabled to lift the ear from the water,so asto return it to its forward position for a new working stroke. By thearrangement shown all dead-centers are avoided and there is no lostmotion between the parts.

As before intimated, I desire to utilize the motion of the tiltingsupporting-frame for the purpose of automatically controlling theposition of the ear relatively to the water-that is to say, when theframe is tilted to raise the ear from the water, the swiveled part ofthe oar-stock is acted upon to incline the blade for feathering, andwhen the opposite movement of the frame takes place the operatingmechanism causes the oar-blade to assume a position at right angles tothe surface of the water, so that the working-stroke will be renderedeffective to the highest degree. The swiveled portion of the oar-stockis provided with a ferrule or sleeve, (2, adapted to receive the end ofthe pivoted portion 5, the latter having a suitable bearing-su rfaee bywhich the oar-blade is steadied and prevented from having anyundesirable movement. A laterallyextending slot, m, is formed in theferrule, and into this a pin projects from the hearing, which answersthe purpose of preventing any longitudinal movement of the ferrule andat the same time permits a rotary motion to the blade within certainlimits. The .slot and pin bear such arelation to each other that whenthe pin is in one end of said slot the oar-blade will be sufficientlyinclined for the feathering action; but when the parts are operated tocause the opposite end of the slot to strike the pin the blade will bethen in position for the working-stroke.

The rotary movement of the oar-blade is effected in the followingmanner: To any suitable standard secured to the boat-side an arm, f, ispivoted, the pivot being directly in the same vertical line with thepivot of the earblade. The arm extends parallel with the oarstoek,and isprovided with a pivoted vertical extension, f, having rack-teeth formedthereon adjacent to the oar-stock. The oar stoek, or the ferrule securedthereto, is provided with a segment of a gear, f with which the teeth onthe pivoted arm f are adapted to mesh. The pivoted arm is held to itsposition in relation to the oar stock by means of an extension,projecting from the pivoted portion of the stock, and it will thus beseen that, no matter whether the oar-blade be in its forward or backwardposition, the pivoted extension f will be adjacent thereto, and itsteeth will always be in engagement with the segment on the oar-stock.

The arm f, however, has nomovementother than the pivotal one referredto, for being supported upon standards entirely independent of the frame0, the tilting movement of the frame is not imparted to it. \Vhen,therefore, the oar is raised from the water, the teeth of the rack onarmf will give a partial rotation to the ferrule and oar-stock and theblade will be inclined for feathering. Upon the opposite tilting of theframe and oar for the workingstroke the reverse operation of the armfand oar-stock takes place and the blade as sumes a suitable position foreffecting the pro pulsion of the boat. By pivoting the extensionf to thearmf and holding the same by the projection g the position of the rackis made to conform to the path described by the segment when the frameis tilted. The racktcct-h, slot, and pin serve to hold the blade toeither position it may have assumed.

I do not wish to limit myself to the precise details of constructionshown, as any slight variation therefrom would still be within the broadspirit of my invention.

I am aware that it is not new to provide extensions upon the hand-leverand the ear and connect these extensions by a link, and I therefore donot claim this construction broadly.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a rowing apparatus, and in combination,the pivoted ear, the arm 4, extending approximately at a right angletherefrom, the link pivoted at 7 to the said arm and at 8 to the end ofan extension on the handle, the said pivot 8 being positioned so that itwill describe a path between the path of the pivot 7 and the pivot ofthe ear, substantially as described.

2. I11 combination with the til-ting frame, a hand-lever and a portionof the oar-stock pivoted to said tilting frame, the oar-blade swiveledto the pivoted portion of the earstock, the segment carried by theswiveled portion of the oar, and the rack carried by a pivoted supportand engaging the segment, substantially as described.

3. In a rowing apparatus, and in combination, a tilting frame, andhandlever and oarstock pivoted thereto, a blade swiveled to the pivotedportion of the stock, and mechanism, substantially as described,supported independent of the tilting frame, engaging with the swiveledportion of the ear and operating the same when the frame is tilted ineither direction, substantially as described.

4. In combination, the tilting frame and hand-lever, thepivotedoar-stock, the swiveled portion carried thereby, having a segment formedthereon, an arm pivoted to a support in vertical line with the pivot ofthe oar-stock, rack-teeth on said arm arranged to engage with ICC thesegment, and means for keeping said arm in engagement with the segment,all substantially as described.

5. Incombination with the tilting frameiand hand-lever pivoted thereto,a portion of the oar-stock, also pivoted to the said frame, the swiveledportion of the oar, the segment thereon, the pivoted arm withrack-teeth, and

the projection 9, carried by the oar-stock, all

substantially as described.

6. In combination with the tilting frame and the hand-lever, the part 5and the swiveled portion of the oar, the segment carried by the saidswiveled portion, the rack in engagement therewith, the ferrule having aslot,and the pin adapted to engage with the ends of said slot,substantially as described.

-7. In combination, the tilting frame, the

hand-lever, the pivoted portion of the oarstock, the swiveled portioncarried thereby provided with a segment, the pivoted arm f,

situated near the oar-stock, ,the extension f,

pivoted thereto and having teeth adapted to engage with the teeth uponthe oar-stock, and the arm 9 upon the oar-stock, all substantially asdescribed.

8. In combination, an oar pivoted to aframe, an arm, 45, formed thereonat the pivot extending approximately at right angles to the oar-stock,whereby a bell-crank action is pro-

